Leather-working machine.



N0. 630,!22. Patented Aug. I, I899.

.F. F. SLOCDMB.

LEATHER WORKING MACHINE.

(Application filed Jan. 26, 189B.)

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LEATHER WORKING MACHINE. (App liuution med Jun. 28, 1888.;

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UNTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK F. SLOOOMB, OF WVILMINGTON, DELAVARE.

LEATHER-WORKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 630,122, dated August1, 1899.

Application filed January 26, 1898. Serial No. 668,014. (No model.)

To rtZZ whom, it may cancer/t.-

Be it known that I, FRANK F. SLoooMB, a citizen of the United States,residing at Wilmington, in the county of New Castle, State of Delaware,have invented a new and useful Improvementin Leather-Finishing Machines,which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification andaccompanying drawings.

7 My invention relates to leather-finishing machines; and it consists ofa plurality of knives mounted upon a rotatable wheel, said knives beingarranged so as to project forwardly or at an angle to the axis of theWheel, as may be desired, and being capable of adjustment according torequirements.

It also consists of a novel construction of guard or skeleton frameworkadapted to surround the wheel carrying said knives and to serve as asupport for the leather during treatment, said guard being adjustablewith respect to the cutting edges of said knives.

It also consists of a novel manner of supporting and adjusting theknives employed, whereby a single knife can be shifted axially in case aportion of its periphery becomes dull or otherwise damaged.

It further consists of novel details of construction, all as will behereinafter fully set forth, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a leather-finishing machineembodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a front elevation of Fig. 1,showing the relative position of the guard or skeleton frame inclosingthe knives, the latter being removed. Fig. 3 represents a section online a; as, Fig. 5, showing a knife in position and the means forsupporting and clamping the same. Fig. 4: represents a plan view of oneof the knives prior to being placed in the position seen in Figs. 1 and3. Fig. 5 represents, on an enlarged scale, a perspective view of an armcarrying a head which is concave in cross-section and has a knifeattached thereto.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in thefigures.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the framework or housing of themachine, the

same having supported thereupon the bearthe wheel I), said arms havingopenings therein, through which pass the eyebolts or similar devices G,the heads of said eyebolts being pivotally attached to the wheel at thepoints 11.

J designates a flanged nut or similar device mounted on the bolt G andhaving one end of the spring K abutting against it, while the other endof said springis in contact with the adjacent portion of the arm E, saideyebolts being retained in proper position relative to said arm by meansof a nut L.

M designates the head or extremity of the arm E, which is concave incross-section, as will be understood from Figs. 3 and 5, and is adaptedto have the knife N clamped thereupon, said knife being a thin resilientplate or disk of steel or other material, as will be understood fromFig. 4, and being held in position by means of the washer P and the boltor other fastening device Q, which is common to said head, plate, andwasher, as will be understood from Fig. 3, the cutting edge of saidknife being caused to assume the convex shape seen in Fig.3 by reason ofits resiliency, as is evident, while the body portion of said knifeassumes substantially a uniform curvature throughout its length. Byloosening the nut R, which holds the bolt Q, in position, it will beevidentthat the knife N can be rotated or shifted axially, so as topresent a fresh cutting-surface to the leathert-o be treated, so thatthe necessity for replacing the knife when the cutting edge thereofbecomes dull is obviated, as a fresh cutting edge can be readilypresented to the leather upon the proper manipulation of the nut andbolt, (seen in Fig. 3,) as is evident.

S designates a skeleton frame or guard which serves as a support duringthe treatment and is mounted on the upper portion of the housing A, saidguard consisting of the curved members or sections T, which may be pipesor tubing, and are located 011 either side of the wheel D and have theupright member 0 extending therefrom to said housing, whereby a guardfor each side of the wheel is formed, the upper portion of said guardbeing preferably just below the cutting edges V of the knives N, as willbe understood from Fig. 1.

N designates inclined slots in the frame work, through which the bolts Ppass, which have the nuts M thereon, wherefrom it will be seen that byloosening said nuts and springing the sections T outwardly and at thesame time loosening the nut U and allowing the slotted member U to moveupwardly the frame S can be raised or lowered with respect to the knivesN.

W designates a cross-bar which is adjustably attached to the guards T,said cross-bar having the curved strip or plate X depending therefrom.

The operation is as follows: Power having been applied to the shaft 0,the wheelD and the knives N will be rotated in unison, the

operator placing the skin or leather to be treated upon the upperportion of the guard or frame S and holding a portion of said leatheragainst the cross-piece W by means of his body. It will thus be apparentthat by the proper manipulation of the leather the latter will besoftened, stretched, and scraped to the desired extent by the contact ofthe knives N therewith during their rotation, especial emphasis beinglaid upon the fact that by'mounting said knives at an angle to the axisof rotation of the wheel or tangentially to the periphery thereof in themanner indicated the desired effect is speedily and thoroughly attained,while said knives are also caused by their contour to give a spreadingaction and draw out.

The tension of the springs K can be readily adjusted by manipulating thenuts J and L, the latter acting as stops or abutments to limit themovement of the arms E, while a fresh cutting edge of the knives can bereadily presented to the leather at all times upon loosening theclamping device therefor as is evident.

It will be understood that I do not limit myself to the employment ofthe arms E or the exact manner of supporting the knives shown, since itwill be evident that other supporting devices may be employed. Theknives may also be V-shaped instead of convex, if desired, and variousother changes made by those skilled in the art which will come withinthe scope of my invention, and I therefore reserve to myself the rightto make all such changes as will come within the spirit of the same.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is i 1. In a leather-finishing machine, awheel rotatably supported, a normally rigid knife having a curvedperiphery mounted thereupon and provided with a convex cutting edge, andmeans for enabling said knife to be turned on its support and rigidlysecured in its adjusted position so as to present a fresh cutting edgeto the leather to be treated.

2. In a leather-finishing machine, a wheel rotatably supported, and aknife mounted upon said wheel, and rotating in unison therewith, meansfor adjusting said knife axially, said knife being concave incross-section at right angles to its line of rotation and having aconvex cutting edge, extending evenly on opposite sides from itsforemost cutting edge.

3. In a leather-finishing machine a wheel rotatably supported and aplurality of knives mounted on yielding supports thereon so as toproject forwardly and at an angle to the axis of said wheel, said knivesbeing concave in cross-section.

4:. In a leather-finishing machine, a wheel, rotatably supported, an armpivotally attached to said wheel and carrying a knife, a bolt pi votallymounted on said wheel and passing through said arm, a springintermediate the latter and the point of attachment of said bolt, meanson the latter for limiting the movement of said arm, a head on said armand a knife secured to said head, the cutting edge of said knife beingconvex.

5. In a leather-finishing machine, a plurality of knives each consistingof a resilient plate, having a curved periphery, and oscillatory arms onwhich said knives are supported, the cutting edge of each knife beingconvex, in combination with a guard or frame located on either side ofsaid knives and adapted to serve as a support for said leather, and tolimit the amount of contact or pressure of said leather against saidknives.

6. In a leather-finishing machine, a housing, a wheel rotatably mountedthereupon, arms pivotally attached to said wheel, concaved heads mountedon said arms, means for limiting the extent of movement of the latter,convex knives mounted upon said heads, means for shifting the cuttingedges of said knives, a skeleton frame or guard on either side of saidknives and wheel, and adapted to serve as a support for the leather tobe treated, and a cross-piece attached to said frame, saidcross-pieee'having a strip or plate depending therefrom.

7. In a leather-finishing machine, an arm, means for rotating thelatter, a eoncaved head attached to said arm, a resilient plate or diskforming a knife adapted to be clamped to said head, the cutting edge ofsaid knife becoming convex after clamping, and fastening devices forholdingsaid knife in contact with said head.

8. In a leather-finishing machine, a knife consisting of aresilient'plate or disk, means for supporting the latter and for causingsaid knife to assume a'convex contour, and means for enabling said knifeto be turned axially and rigidly secured in its adjusted position,whereby a fresh cutting-surface can be presented.

9. In a leather-finishing machine, a wheel rotatably supported, knivesmounted on said wheel, guards or frames supported on either side of saidwheel, and means for varying the radii of said frames thereby adjustingthe sides and tops thereof, relative to the cutting edges of saidknives.

10. In a leather-finishing machine, a wheel rotatably supported, knivesmounted on said Wheel, frames supported on either side of said Wheel,means for varying the radii of said frames thereby adjusting the sidesand tops thereof relative to the cutting edges of said knives, and across bar attached to said frames.

11. In a leather-finishing machine, a wheel rotatably supported, knivesmounted on said Wheel, frames supported on either side thereof, saidframes each consisting of a curved member, having its lower portionsadjustable in the housing of the machine, and means for securing saidmembers in adjusted position.

12. In a leather-finishing machine, a Wheel rotatably supported, knivesmounted on said Wheel, frames supported on either side thereof, saidframes each consisting of a curved member, having its lower portionsadjustable in slots in the housing of the machine, a slotted memberattached to each of said curved members intermediate their ends, andmeans for lockin g said members in their adjusted positions.

13. In a leather-finishing machine, a housin g, a Wheel rotatabl ymounted thereon, arms pivotally attached to said wheel, concaved headsmounted on said arms, means for limiting the extent of movement of saidarms, convex knives mounted upon said heads and means for shifting thecutting edges of said knives.

14. In a leather-finishing machine, a Wheel rotatably supported, knivesmounted on said Wheel, frames supported on either side of said wheel,and means for varying the radii of said frames, thereby adjusting thesides and tops thereof relative to the cutting edges of said knives.

FRANK F. SLOCOMB.

Witnesses:

WM. 0. WIEDERsHEn/i, E. HAYWARD FAIRBANKS.

